It features my work and experimentation during the foundation year at Ravensbourne.

Thursday, 19 September 2013

Contextual studies: Gilles and Cecilie studio lecture

This afternoon, we had Cecilie from Gilles and Cecilie studio come to speak to us about their work and industry practice. It was a really informative and enjoyable talk that provided insight into an actual working business. As I have interest in illustration, I really liked having the chance to hear from someone in the industry. She talked about a variety of different projects they had taken part in from Paul Smith to Pepsi. She also gave tips and advice to anyone thinking of a similar career such as the importance of getting a studio straight away. She also emphasised that it is crucial to promote yourself to companies and not wait to be contacted. An interesting point she made was to spend really carefully from the beginning to avoid running into money problems if commissions are low at a particular time. For example, I found out that work seems to go in waves as there are particular popular points. They currently have 12 projects on the go as September seems to be a particularly busy time. It was really inspiring to hear that a small studio manages to have as many as 12 commissions as often illustration is thought of as a risky career due to a lack of commissions. These are just some of the things I discovered in the lecture and I am really pleased we had this chance to hear from this studio.